The goal of this monthly series is to bring together members of the Yale community doing outstanding research related to stress, trauma and health across molecular to public health levels of analysis, and with prevention and treatment development and testing. Speakers at all levels of training are invited to share their recent findings and perspectives on stress-related research questions. We aim to build a network of stress researchers that fosters interdepartmental and interdisciplinary collaboration. Through the creation of this network, our long-term goal is to drive research and discovery that can reduce the toxic effects of stress and trauma and improve health and chronic disease outcomes.
Hosted by the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, ISEC 2026 brings together leading researchers, clinicians, and educators to explore how movement, perception, and emotion shape cognition and mental health. This interdisciplinary event highlights advances across neuroscience, rehabilitation, education, artificial intelligence, and the arts, with a focus on translational applications of embodied cognition.
Keynote Presenters:
Featured Sessions:
1. Artificial Intelligence and Embodied Systems
2. Psychedelic Science
3. Fencing: The Embodied Cognitive Sports
4. Theater and Expressive Well-being
5. Embodied Classroom
6. Sports Neuroscience
7. Mind–Body Interventions & Rehabilitation
8. Movement and Aging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of velocity distributions at the sub-voxel level
Speaker: Luis Hernandez-Garcia
Bio: I received my bachelor's degree in applied science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992. I stayed at UNC-CH for my Master's (1994) and Ph.D. degrees (1998), although the last two years were spent conducting my research at the Nathan Kline Institute in Orangeburg, NY. I held a post-doctoral fellowship at Wake Forest University in Winslon-Salem, NC from 1998-1999. I then moved to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, where I currently work as a research professor in the Radiology department.
I have been Principal investigator and co-investigator on multiple NIH funded projects and collaborated with a wide range of multi-disciplinary teams including the departments of Biostatistics, Neurology, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Psychology and Psychiatry. My research goals are centered on the development of non-invasive, image guided neuromodulation.
I have done some work in the development of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), direct current stimulation (TDCS) and focused ultrasound stimulation (FUS), but the largest share of my research career so far has been spent on the development of techniques to image brain function using MRI. I have spent significant effort working in Functional MRI using both the BOLD effect and perfusion imaging using arterial spin labeling. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging methods are very attractive because they can image brain perfusion and other hemodynamic parameters quantitatively without the need for contrast agent injections. These parameters are important indicators of the brain's activity as well as being important biomarkers. I have worked extensively on developing ASL acquisition and analysis methods, including a series of papers to establish a consensus in the perfusion imaging community.
Abstract: In this presentation, I will discuss a new MRI-based technique to measure the velocity distribution of water inside each voxel of an image by using modified velocity-selective RF pulses to encode the three-dimensional velocity distribution of convective flow in each voxel, analogously to Diffusion Tensor and Q-space imaging. I will discuss the physical principles behind velocity spectrum imaging. I will also discuss its implementation challenges, and our efforts to validate and optimize this technique on flow phantoms with known characteristics and preliminary results on human participants.
This technique may prove to be extremely useful for the validation of complex computational fluid dynamic models. However, the current motivation for this project is to study "the glymphatic system" and its involvement in neurodegenerative disorders.
The "glymphatic" system consists of a set of pathways for the clearance of metabolites and other waste in the brain through the extravascular space. There is increasing evidence that impaired clearance of metabolite waste plays a major role in the etiology of diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and vascular dementia. Velocity Spectrum Imaging may provide a tool to characterize the microscopic convective movement of water in brain tissue without the use of invasive procedures or contrast agents.
"Investigating Impacts of Social Media on Youth Mental Health"
This hybrid session, which will take place in the Cohen Auditorium with a live simulcast via Zoom, will be focused on four pilot studies launched this past fall by recipients of a new Social Media Research Award at Yale Child Study Center (YCSC). The award was made possible through a generous gift to the center and aims to advance the understanding of both positive and negative effects of social media on youth well-being and contribute to evidence-based recommendations for healthy social media use among children and adolescents. Session attendees will hear from the following awardees with updates on their respective projects, and light refreshments will be served. YCSC community members can find a link to the Zoom simulcast in the department's Outlook calendar.
Christine Cha, PhD and Shirley Wang, PhD: “Development of Digital Phenotypes to Distinguish Harmful from Helpful Moments of Social/Digital Media Use Across the Lifespan”
Rebecca Etkin, PhD: “Social Media and Social Anxiety: A Longitudinal and Ecologically-Valid Investigation of Bidirectional Effects”
Marc Potenza, MD, and Jennifer Park, PhD: “Network Analysis and Adolescent-Informed Strategies to Address Co-occurring Problematic Social Media Use and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder”
Karim Ibrahim, PsyD: “Is 'TikTok Brain' Real? Effects of Social Media Content on Attention, Impulse Inhibition and Emotion Regulation in Youth with and without ADHD”
We will be hosting a mini symposium on research surrounding music, memory, and aging as the energy around these topics is steadily building here at Yale. The symposium will be an opportunity to showcase the efforts of trainees working on these projects with us and as a way of sharing what we are doing with the Yale community and perhaps the larger public as well (including e.g. partnering with local organizations in this space).
All are welcome.
An OAPD Wellness Webinar
The Yale Department of Psychiatry offers this interactive town hall for faculty and staff at the medical school. The town hall includes a brief presentation, followed by an opportunity to share stressful experiences in a safe and supportive envirnoment, and explore strategies for building resilience to stressors in work and life.
Speaker: Priti Balchandani
Bio: Priti Balchandani, PhD, is a Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology and an Endowed Professor of Engineering Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine (ISMMS). She is also the Co-Director of the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine between ISMMS and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her research program has been focused on bridging gap between advanced electrical engineering techniques and medical imaging applications. She has been the principal investigator on multiple NIH-funded projects focused on 7 Tesla imaging to help guide diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases. Dr. Balchandani received her BASc in computer engineering at the University of Waterloo and her PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford University. \
Abstract: The talk will describe my journey as an engineer in medical research and how my training in electrical engineering built the foundation for an independent research program focused on the design and translation of novel neuroimaging technologies to meet clinical unmet needs in neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. I will then describe my vision to develop a more focused research and educational hub in the field of Engineering Medicine and will share my experience building up the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM), the first joint center between Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which is based in New York city.